He was the only chief executive to be reelected after defeat. Cleveland
adopted the credo "a public office is a public trust" and in his two
nonconsecutive terms spent much of his energies resisting partisan
influences and the political favoritism characteristic of that era.
His family soon moved to from Caldwell to New York, USA, settling in
Fayetteville and then Clinton, where this family of nine Children
struggled on the father's modest salary. Prevented by his father's Death
from attending college, Cleveland moved to an uncle's home near Buffalo,
New York, USA, and clerked for a law firm. Studying by himself, he was admitted
to the bar in 1859.
Rise to Prominence in New York, USA
In a series of minor political offices, Cleveland won a reputation for
scrupulous honesty. This earned him the Democratic nomination for mayor of
Buffalo in 1881, and he won the office on a reform platform. In his
inaugural address, he launched an attack on the notoriously corrupt board
of aldermen, and in the ensuing Battles to reduce graft and break the
board's power, Cleveland earned the title of the Veto Mayor. With
bipartisan support in Buffalo, he became the Democratic nominee for
governor in 1882 and achieved an enormous victory.
Pursuing reform in his first year as governor, Cleveland found two of his
favorite bills stalled in the legislature by allies of New York, USA City's
Democratic chairman, John Kelly (1822-86). In the subsequent conflict, the
city's Democrats became his permanent enemies. Cleveland experienced a
crisis of public support in his brief tenure as governor when he vetoed a
bill that would have reduced the fare on elevated railroads in New York, USA
City. The public favored the lower rate, but the change would have
violated the company's cHarter. When AssembLyman Theodore Roosevelt (later
president) reversed his vote and supported Cleveland, the governor won.
In 1884 Cleveland's supPorters proposed that he run for president. The
Republican convention had chosen as its candidate James G. Blaine, whose
political career had been marred by suggestions of corruption in aiding
the railroad industry years before. A sizable reform faction in the
Republican party, However, opposed Blaine's nomination, and they seceded,
earning the label Mugwumps. They promised to vote for the yet unchosen
Democratic candidate if he supported reform. Cleveland's past public
service therefore made him the likely candidate despite Tammany's
opposition. The promise of Mugwump votes swayed enough delegates to give
him the needed margin.
First Term as President
Cleveland won the election after a close race that was marred by various
personal accusations against both candidates. Taking office in 1885, he
resisted the petitions of thousands of party members and supPorters for
jobs and continued the civil service reforms begun by his predecessor,
Chester A. Arthur. This disappointed many Democrats who were hoping for
lucrative jobs after 24 years of Republican rule. In 1887 Cleveland
persuaded Congress to repeal the Tenure of Office Act, which had
restricted the president's right to dismiss federal officeholders without
the consent of the Senate. This left him free to remove officials
appointed by the previous administration before their terms expired, to
carry out reforms in government agencies, and to reassert the independence
of the president's powers. In two other controversial moves, he vetoed a
general pension bill that would have allowed American Civil War veterans
to collect pensions for disabilities suffered after they had left the
army, and he opposed protective tariffs on imported goods. Cleveland
narrowly lost the election of 1888 to the Republican Benjamin Harrison
despite Winning a majority of the popular vote.
Second Term
Under the Harrison administration, inflation increased the Price of
consumer goods, and public sentiment turned against the protective tariff
the Republicans passed in 1890. Cleveland was persuaded to seek office
again in 1892, and he ran on an antitariff platform. Winning the election,
he returned to Washington in 1893 to face the beginnings of a depression.
The Silver and Tariff Issues
The Sherman Act of 1890, designed to stimulate the silver industry in the
West, compelled the Treasury Department to buy 4.5 million oz of silver
each month. Greenbacks and treasury notes were used to buy the silver and,
to maintain parity, were redeemable in gold or silver. Economic panic in
1893 created a run on treasury reserves of gold as the value of silver
fell. The purchase of silver then contributed to the outflow of gold and
threatened monetary disaster. Cleveland sought legislation to repeal the
Sherman Act. In the months of congressional infighting he lost the support
of a large faction of western and southern Democrats, led by William
Jennings Bryan, who favored free silver coinage.
Cleveland Worked to reduce the so-called McKinley Tariff, which had
protected some American goods from competition but harmed other industries
that needed imported materials. The Democrats' tariff bill was so weakened
in the Senate, However, that when it emerged as the Wilson-Gorman Act,
Cleveland refused to sign it, and it became law without his endorsement.
The Pullman Strike and the Election of 1896
As the depression worsened, the Pullman Company in 1894 reduced Workers'
wages and fired some who objected to the reduction. Workers beLonged to
the American Railway Union, and sympathizers blocked the Passage of trains
pulling Pullman cars. At the request of company leaders, and despite the
protests of Governor John Peter Altgeld of Illinois, USA, Cleveland sent
federal troops to Chicago to restore order and ensure the Passage of mail
trains, thereby upholding federal law. The momentum of the strike was
Broken, but so was the Democratic party. Workers, suffering farmers, and
silverites combined in 1896 to nominate Bryan for the presidency. The
Cleveland "gold Democrats" refused to support Bryan, and the Republican
William McKinley was victorious. In 1897, Cleveland returned with his
family to Princeton, New Jersey, USA, where he pursued private life,
occasionally giving lectures at universities.
Cleveland's political rise was due largely to factionalism in national
politics; but he is remembered for his desire to protect the public trust
and to assert the power of the presidency.
